1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure generally relates to printers, and more particularly, protecting a print head in a printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, labels are comprised of a label face stock, which may be suitable for printing, a release liner, and an adhesive layer sandwiched between the label face stock and the release liner. A label may also include a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag or device that can carry information.
An applicator having a print engine may be used to print to the face stock of a label. Some applicators include an RFID reader/writer for reading or writing to RFID devices included with labels. Frequently, a thermal print head is used to print to the face stock. Typically, the thermal print head engages the label while printing to the label, and the engagement of the thermal print head with the label causes wear and tear to the thermal print head, for example, to one or more resistive elements of the thermal print head. In addition, the print head of an applicator having both a print head and an RFID reader/writer can be subjected to wear and tear by the applicator processing a label even when the print head does not print to the label.
There is a need in such applicators to avoid such degradation when the applicator is processing a medium while not printing.